Michael Neiger at Canoecopia 2026

Location
Alliant Energy Center
1919 Alliant Energy Way
Madison, Wisconsin

Show Hours
Friday: 3 PM to 8 PM
Saturday: 9 AM to 6 PM
Sunday: 10 AM to 4 PM

Tickets
1-Day: $17.00
3-Day: $35.00
Ages 17 and under are FREE
Cash or check only for tickets purchased at the event

Parking Fees
1-Day: $10.00
Credit only, fees collected by Alliant Energy Center
Advanced passes may be purchased HERE.
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www.MibSAR.com

Since 1984, Michael has organized hundreds of backpack, canoe, bike, snowshoe, and caving trips/expeds between Lake Superior and the Arctic Ocean. He's paddled dozens of Canadian and Michigan rivers, often solo, including an expedition from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean; has skied solo from the northernmost plowed road in Ontario, Canada to the Arctic Ocean, and helped train and outfit members of 2 North Pole expeditions.

A Michigan State Police Det/Sgt for 26 years, he's the lead investigator with Michigan Backcountry Search & Rescue Long Range Special Operations Group, investigating missing-person cases & cold-case murders between the Great Lakes & the Arctic Ocean. He teaches Land Navigation, Wilderness Survival, High-Altitude Mountain Survival, Man-Tracking, and SAR to first responders and US Warfighters, and has authored numerous state & national guidebooks, and the Missing Person Sourcebook.

He's been featured in Outside Magazine, Explore Magazine, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press, Michigan Out-of-Doors, Society (Paris), and Recoil Offgrid.

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Also Presenting With

Chris Ozminski
Chris Ozminski, Brighton, Michigan, Livingston, County. For several decades I've been a wilderness explorer, photographer, and videographer. I frequently travel Off-Trail all over North America in all seasons, on foot and by canoe. Navigation has been a huge part of all that exploring. I've made several wilderness films that screen at film festivals. I am also a former Long Range SAR team member.

Nick St. Onge
Nick St. Onge lives in the metro Detroit area and grew up in Florida, Maine, and Michigan. He is a U.S army 10th Mountain Division veteran where he found his passion for cold weather activities and survival. He continued this passion and attended Northern Michigan University earning a B.S. in Outdoor Leadership and Management. During his time at NMU he joined the Search and Rescue (SAR) community where he found another passion and new mission and has since become an instructor with the National Association For Search And Rescue (NASAR). He loves everything outdoors from being 200 feet below water to playing in the arctic watershed during the winter months. He is also an investigator with Michael Neiger’s Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MibSAR), “a Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) that investigates long-term missing person cases and cold-case murders in the bush between the Upper Great Lakes and the Arctic Ocean.”

Presentations

Michael Neiger, Chris Ozminski

How to assemble and wear an in-pocket survival kit for a wilderness adventure

Superior - main floor Sat 10:30am-11:15am

This high-quality PowerPoint presentation will discuss how to assemble and wear an in-pocket survival kit for a wilderness adventure by canoe, kayak, paddle board, mountain bike, ski, snowshoe, or foot. If you ever become lost in the bush, these items will help you survive until rescuers reach you. It will cover sheath knives; pocket knives; whistles; signal mirrors; butane lighters; waterproof, windproof lifeboat matches; spark-ignitable waterproof firestarters; ferro sparking rods; magnesium tinder rods; scrapers/strikers; waterproof flashlights; emergency blankets; compasses; and maps.

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Michael Neiger, Nick St. Onge

How to ensure your child will be a survivor when lost in the wilderness

Quetico - main floor Sat 2:30pm-3:15pm

This high-quality PowerPoint presentation will help parents teach their young children how to survive when lost in the wilderness - what to carry, what to do, and what not to do - and includes two free instructional coloring books (downloadable online) and two free videos to watch (online) with their children. This discussion draws on the lost-person best practices of the: National Association for Search & Rescue (NASAR); Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP); Search & Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SRVCAC); Adventure Smart Canada (ASC); Michigan State Police (MSP); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and the FREE, 23-chapter, "Missing-Person Sourcebook: A How-To Manual for Families Searching for a Missing or Murdered Loved One - Best Practices from the World's Top Experts" by the presenter.

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